"LEADERSHIP - passion, dedication, hard work and faith"
No man is an island.
Such axiom constantly appeals familiar, common and stale to our senses. However, it brings a powerful and factual impact to us. Not all problems can be solved alone. Although at times there are some which are better to be solved directly by the person concerned, most of the time we are prompted to share our problems to others and source out solutions from them. There are problems which can only be solved by a certain group of people.
Additionally, I believe that two heads are better than one; then much more if many heads are working. I am certain that working to solve a certain problem collectively and collaboratively makes the task easier and meaningful. Nonetheless, working as a team requires a great deal of cooperation, consideration and collaboration among the participants of the group discussion. Settling to a common best solution isn't easy especially that every individual has his/her own idea and way of attacking a problem. Conflict may therefore arise which if not properly solve will lead to chaos. Hence, the purpose of achieving a common goal will be defeated.
Leadership may be defined differently. To be guided we will consider leadership as ideas of influence and accomplishment. Leadership means exerting influence so as a leader, one should be able to influence the group to make an action and change for the better. Influencing the group would mean that the leader should possess the ability to bring about changes in the attitudes and actions of others. Simply, if the audiences or members do not follow then you don't have leadership. Further, leadership results in reaching a goal; it is goal-driven. A real test of effective leadership is on the quantity and quality of tasks accomplished in a given time.
People are entirely different from each other. As a matter of fact, the reporter discussed the two most common types of leadership styles - autocratic, managerial, demographic, and
collaborative. Autocratic leaders carry on doing things by themselves. They have all the authority and they make all the choices. If you are working with a leader who is autocratic, you cannot do things on your own way because he or she will tell you what to do and how to do it. Moreover when we talk about managerial leadership, the leader who sees herself or himself as a manager is concerned mainly with the operation of the group. Third, a democratic leader understands that there is no organization without its members. The leader always asks and gives respect to the opinions of others before arriving at a conclusion. Lastly, a collaborative leader tries to engage everybody in the group. All the time, collaborative leaders are considered as the most cherished person because members would always love that their leader will always try to listen and recognized on what they can contribute to the team.
Furthermore, for me, the best leadership style that best characterize me is the democratic leader, the group is more productive because the leader is strict and sticks to deadline. As a leader, I see to it that each member is given the chance to blossom because they are allowed to discover solutions to problem and they are actively involved in the decision-making and so they enjoy being in the group.
Although it seems that other leadership style may have its own strengths. However, I believe that democratic leadership is the most effective leadership style for health
educators because it is easier for a group to work faster in achieving a goal. The members can always feel freedom in a democratic group. Also, this kind of leadership style is usually the most effective and leads to higher output. You can achieve better involvements from group members, and increased group confidence.
Moreover, the less effective leadership style is the autocratic leadership. Sometimes, I believe that members under an autocratic leader are somehow complaining especially in doing their tasks or coping with the kind of leader they have. Also, more work is done in an autocratic leader than a democratic one. Furthermore autocratic leader seems to create aggression and discontent and there is more dependence and less individuality in autocratic groups. To sum it up, in an autocratic leadership style, the members are not free to express their thoughts and opinions. They likely feel that they are not part of the decision-making and are most of the time rejected and abandoned.
In addition, the success of the group does not only depend on the leader but also on the group members or participants. And whatever leadership style others have, I will always believe that anyone can be an effective leader if passion, dedication, hard work and faith are on top of everything he/she does and will do.
